The beginning was three moons before the summer solstice three years past. King Nilos of the kingdom of Navin had died without an heir. His Queen, Sabiya of the Dragon Isles, declared herself monarch with the backing of most of the court and a small army. High Prince Daylin, the late king's brother, fought for his crown, but in the end retained control of the wealthiest city in Navin, Pallavicini, as well as the support of its people and the Navy. Fearing Queen Sabiya would declare war on Prince Daylin or the other two kingdoms, King Ilario struck an alliance with Queen Ashling. One of the two princesses of Uttara was to be wed to crown Prince Tirvan of Dakshin, when he came of age.

Breanne and Cait stopped learning history, math, and language and were instead taught stitching, painting, dancing, and court etiquette. In their childhood, the three siblings followed the same tutoring, though there were 3 years between Padraig and Breanne and four more until Caitriona. Padraig went into the court for all council sessions and into the war room with their father, but Breanne and her sister were kept out. What infuriated Breanne most was that her mother, the Queen, and her aunts had all been tutored like her brother. Breanne knew the kingdom of Dakshin had decided long, long ago that women were not as fit and able as men, so therefore they could not inherit land or be educated past the age of 11. As such, no woman had ever reigned over the kingdom; queen was simply a title given to a woman fit to bear the king's heirs. Breanne was insulted and angry, but could see no hope to change the course, except to vow she would not go into this arrangement uneducated and weak.

Three years had passed since, and Breanne kept to her vow. Two candles cast a light golden halo around the table she worked at. There was just enough light; the papers were easy enough to read, but Breanne was still afraid of being caught. She furtively studied Battle Tactics of Commander Drake in the library. As was the custom, she had been taught to read both the common and the old language from age 8, so it was effortless to read the First Edicts and the Third Age Decrees. Tonight there were several maps laid out on the table, some more than 300 years old. This had something to do with Queen Sabiya of Navin. She wasn't sure what yet, so she eavesdropped during the day and studied by night. It agitated her that she was left out. When her mother was her age she was never left out, granted her mother was the future queen, but Breanne didn't see why being second in line to the Uttaran throne and promised future queen of Dakshin should change her studies.

It was some hours before dawn yet and although Breanne was sure everyone was asleep, she had used the hidden hall that came out in the library, no one would know she wasn't in bed. That didn't stop her from looking at the door constantly, waiting for any sound of approach. Unless the guards who constantly patrolled the castle saw her candles, which was a good possibility if she hadn't finished soon, she would slip back into the secret exit and move swiftly and silently back to her bed chamber.

Breanne had found the secret door in her room by accident. Once upon a time, her bed chamber had belonged to the kings and queens of old, so there was a secret escape route that lead through the castle walls and out the merchant's canal. It had been so long since any monarch had bedded in there, she doubted that her mother or father knew of the route. Otherwise, she was quite sure they'd have blocked it off by now. Her handmaids slept in the outer room to hers where there had been a concealed door that led to a stairway down to the kitchens and out the back garden. That door had been removed and replaced with stone. You could still sneak up the stairs from the kitchen to the cold stone wall that was there now.

The secret exit from the library was a popular myth around the castle, one that excited her as a child, and she had spent as much time as she could looking for it. It had been a day of particular boredom 4 years ago, with another lesson in how to greet foreign dignitaries, like she hadn't seen and done it a hundred times, and taking a page from her sister's playbook, ditched her tutor and headed for the library. Breanne didn't know what she was looking for. She had looked at the back of every shelf for a door handle or hinges with no luck so far. This time she was studying the shelves themselves, the carved tops and pillars between. Each one seemed different, nothing really standing out or protruding, but then something caught her eye. Although different, each pillar had the same order of carvings: animal, flower, person, heraldry. One stood out. She had seen it every time she came in, it was a part of the family history, yet today she really saw it for what it was. It was a glaring difference that made her wonder how she had missed it for so many months, years even. On the fourth column from the right, the raven on the shield was clutching six arrows. Six arrows, not seven. That was clearly supposed to be Queen Maeve II, she had only ruled for seven years, but was known because that is when the gold mine at Fryst Gate was found and saved the kingdom from ruin hundreds of years ago. Breanne had pushed and pulled on the column to no avail. Studying it very carefully she noticed that the raven on the shield had a tiny crack that went all the way around it like it was set into the column and not carved in like the rest. The head of the bird stood out just enough for her to hold on gently while she pulled on the bird. She could feel it give and she wiggled and pulled on it. Suddenly, the bird came out and there was a small, fat iron ring behind it. Pulling on it she heard a click and a squeak and the shelves to the left of the column opened barely an inch. Replacing the bird quickly, she seized the shelf, and with lots of groans and squeaks, on her part and the door, she found a dark hall secreting off into the castle. That night she returned with a candle and followed the passage until it split. One direction she found went to down and turned left ending out in the merchant’s dock under the castle, and the other, to her shock, lead to her room.

Now she had taken to using it to enter the library at night to teach herself all the things she thought queens should know. The queens of Uttara were intelligent, apt, brave leaders. She wasn't allowed in the War Room with Mother, Father, Padraig, and the Generals. Not that they were keeping it a secret, her parents just saw her as unnecessary.

She was being primped as a gift for the crown prince of Dakshin. Her role was to be a good and fruitful wife and keep the kingdom of Dakshin as their ally. Breanne had all the embroidery and etiquette lessons she could stomach. It wasn't that she didn't want to learn those things, it was just that was all she was learning, starting her on the current course of womanly duties. They were preparing her to be a good Dakshini wife, seen but not heard. Breanne was a proud Uttaran Princess, daughter of Queen Ashling, daughter of King Rion, Son of King Willem the Great. Now that Prince Tirvan was of age to marry, everything would go forth as they had planned for her. Even if she was going to be the queen of another kingdom, she wasn't planning on arriving as a meek, spiritless prize.